People who use screen readers often crank up the playback rate to 2x. The
software adjusts the pitch so it doesn't sound like the Chipmunks.
I've often wondered why DVRs don't do this (I've sent the suggestion to
Tivo, they ignored me). I'd like the option to play the news (or other talk
shows) at a faster rate, with pitch adjustment. I've found I can watch Tivo
at 3x with the closed captioning on, and can almost keep up. The problem
with DVRs at any fast forward speed is they turn the sound off! Grrrr.
A golden opportunity missed.
I'd also love it if youtube etc. did this. It's so boring looking at youtube
presentations because they talk so slow. I'd love a double speed youtube
viewing option.
Remember I posted this in case some troll tries to patent it.

when I do this. (Tip: VLC does it for at least double-speed)
I think the reason I.E. YouTube and Tivo don't do it is that AFAIU, it
is fairly CPU-consuming (FFT back and forth?) In the TiVo-case, my
guess is nobody paid for the hardware, and in the YouTube-case I doubt
neither Flash nor JavaScript will enable the performance required.
Perhaps it can be done browser-dependently with HTML5.
Now, what we need is the audio-equivalent of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugc

People who use screen readers often crank up the playback rate to 2x. The
software adjusts the pitch so it doesn't sound like the Chipmunks.
I've often wondered why DVRs don't do this (I've sent the suggestion to
Tivo, they ignored me). I'd like the option to play the news (or other talk
shows) at a faster rate, with pitch adjustment. I've found I can watch Tivo
at 3x with the closed captioning on, and can almost keep up. The problem
with DVRs at any fast forward speed is they turn the sound off! Grrrr.
A golden opportunity missed.
I'd also love it if youtube etc. did this. It's so boring looking at youtube
presentations because they talk so slow. I'd love a double speed youtube
viewing option.
Remember I posted this in case some troll tries to patent it.

when I do this. (Tip: VLC does it for at least double-speed)
I think the reason I.E. YouTube and Tivo don't do it is that AFAIU, it
is fairly CPU-consuming (FFT back and forth?) In the TiVo-case, my
guess is nobody paid for the hardware, and in the YouTube-case I doubt
neither Flash nor JavaScript will enable the performance required.
Perhaps it can be done browser-dependently with HTML5.

I think the problem is it either never occurred to Tivo or Youtube, or they
don't care about it. When I shut off my Tivo service, I told them that such a
feature would entice me to keep it. But I seriously doubt they transmitted my
idea to the right people.

I might be wrong, I hardly ever get to touch things that low-level,
unfortunately.
However, I think the DSP:s included in most STB:s are severely limited
in how much you can twist them. AFAIU, that's one quiet important
aspect of the whole HTML5 video-codec debacle. I.E. in the boxes I
work with, the entire video-processing-chain is done in one pipe-line,
separated from the CPU almost directly at the network-interface, and
color-keyed back with other graphics in the very last rendering-step.
(Much as the old Voodoo2-cards worked.)

From the economics stand-point, there's a HUGE cost-focus on them, so

saved on hardware is roughly a dollar on the bottom-line, and in the
volumes STB:s sell, that's millions of dollars. Sure, software costs
might go up, but not likely by millons of dollars yearly. I.E. even if
you CAN use the DSP-components to post-process audio, I would not be
surprised to learn it hasn't got the power to do it simultaneously
with video-playback.
Again, I don't work low-level enough to tell for sure, and TiVo might
spend a lot more on the hardware than I'm used to, but hardware
limitations in this industry is a very real challenge, especially for
things like post-processing. I too would love 2X playback with working
audio though. :)

The real money for Tivo is not the box cost, but the recurring subscription
revenue. Even better if this idea is nontrivial to implement, as that would
give
the first mover an exclusive.

I think the reason I.E. YouTube and Tivo don't do it is that AFAIU, it
is fairly CPU-consuming (FFT back and forth?) In the TiVo-case, my
guess is nobody paid for the hardware, and in the YouTube-case I doubt
neither Flash nor JavaScript will enable the performance required.
Perhaps it can be done browser-dependently with HTML5.

I think the problem is it either never occurred to Tivo or Youtube, or they
don't care about it. When I shut off my Tivo service, I told them that such
a feature would entice me to keep it. But I seriously doubt they transmitted
my idea to the right people.

Perhaps, although I develop for STB:s at work, and I know how
amazingly price-pressed the hardware is. Seriously, it's designed to
show live HD, but the developers manual for one manufacturer, there's
a performance-warning about animated GIF:s (not kidding).
My guess is, the only FFT the box can manage is the one hard-coded in
the video-chip, which can't easily be exploited for other means.
Of course, I don't know what HW the Tivo is using, perhaps they're just lazy. :)

It would have to be limited to video, the filing date is 2009 and this was
presented at SIGGRAPH 2007. Jesus fuck, and they even *reference* that prior
art in the very first "Other References"!!
Gee, I wonder what douchebag owns this patent? Oh look, it's "Don't Be Evil"
Google...Why am I not remotely surprised? (Hint: "publically traded
corporation" together with "don't be evil" is complete fucking
contradiction, by their very definitions. Always has been, always will be.)

I might be wrong, I hardly ever get to touch things that low-level,
unfortunately.
However, I think the DSP:s included in most STB:s are severely limited
in how much you can twist them. AFAIU, that's one quiet important
aspect of the whole HTML5 video-codec debacle. I.E. in the boxes I
work with, the entire video-processing-chain is done in one pipe-line,
separated from the CPU almost directly at the network-interface, and
color-keyed back with other graphics in the very last rendering-step.
(Much as the old Voodoo2-cards worked.)

From the economics stand-point, there's a HUGE cost-focus on them, so

saved on hardware is roughly a dollar on the bottom-line, and in the
volumes STB:s sell, that's millions of dollars. Sure, software costs
might go up, but not likely by millons of dollars yearly. I.E. even if
you CAN use the DSP-components to post-process audio, I would not be
surprised to learn it hasn't got the power to do it simultaneously
with video-playback.
Again, I don't work low-level enough to tell for sure, and TiVo might
spend a lot more on the hardware than I'm used to, but hardware
limitations in this industry is a very real challenge, especially for
things like post-processing. I too would love 2X playback with working
audio though. :)
2011/1/31 Walter Bright <newshound2 digitalmars.com>:

Ulrik Mikaelsson wrote:

Of course, I don't know what HW the Tivo is using, perhaps they're just
lazy. :)